The unit includes advanced safety features to enable the vehicle to interact with its driver via the head-up display – for example, giving the driver an instant, unmissable cue (visual, audio or both) that the vehicle is leaving its lane, or that there is another vehicle in the driver’s blind spot. Harman’s augmented navigation creates a “virtual reality” guidance experience, projecting aids such as upcoming exits, signals, or collision warnings onto the windshield. The eyes don’t have to leave the road, and thus don’t have to change focus. Operation of the unit is totally touch-free: drivers change the display content safely by gesture control. Intuitive touch-free gesture control puts drivers in charge of an array of infotainment options without the hazard of distraction: for instance, the driver can reject an incoming phone call just with a swipe of the hand, or change what’s shown on the display.

Highly connected and touch-free

The head-up unit has a spacious display area, high resolution and color depth, giving drivers the detail and clarity they need to interpret information feeds instantly. Navigation is aided by guidance arrows projected into the driver’s view. The head-up unit is also designed for convenience, with a face recognition feature to identify drivers and automatically adjust settings such as seat position. For seamless high-end connectivity, the unit features LTE capabilities and an in-car Wi-Fi hotspot for streaming content such as email and weather updates. Drivers and passengers can hook up their own devices with minimum fuss, bringing greater entertainment choices into the car.

In the “Smart Cities” of the future, the vehicle control unit can even be connected to the city infrastructure. It will know how long the car has to wait for example at a red light, and depending on driver preferences can use this time to stream email or messages to the head-up display. As ever, safety is paramount – the unit never challenges the driver more than the traffic situation allows, and the infostream is turned off before the lights go green. Accordingly, every generation can enjoy a relaxed yet aware driving experience – not just older drivers who will appreciate the responsiveness of the system, but also younger “digital natives” who will like the connectivity and multimedia options.